The invention relates to image and video display. More specifically, the invention relates to methods and apparatus for discouraging the unauthorized copying and distribution of compressed color images and video sequences.
Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) players are providing consumers with access to wide screen movies having high quality images and high fidelity sound. The high quality format of the DVD players brings theatre-like entertainment to the home.
The same high quality format can also be viewed on a monitor of a computer having a DVD-ROM drive and associated electronics. The DVD-ROM drive reads a DVD-ROM disc and outputs a stream of data compressed according to an MPEG standard. The DVD-ROM electronics decodes the compressed data into uncompresssed data, converts the uncompressed data to RGB signals, and sends the RGB signals to the computer monitor via a cable for display.
However, the cable between the computer and the monitor is unsecured. Therefore, uncompressed data sent to the monitor can be intercepted, recompressed and redistributed. In the past, the high cost of compression technology would have provided a barrier to such copying and redistribution, particularly with regard to video images. However, with compression technology decreasing in cost and software compression being made commercially available, the barrier is being overcome.
Unauthorized copying is not restricted to DVD discs. Unauthorized copying also applies to color images of large sizes. The barrier of copying and compressing the large images has already been overcome. Many software applications allow an image to be compressed, typically using a lossy compression scheme such as JPEG or MPEG.
Additionally, the growing availability of digital images and video sequences over the Internet has increased the need to discourage unauthorized copying and redistribution.
Home copying and professional piracy are great threats to artists, producers and copyright owners. There is a need for discouraging the unauthorized copying and distribution of images and video sequences.